I
Consoled Myself By Thinking That He Could Not
Go Far, As He Was Hard Hit, And That I Should
Easily Find Him When Daylight Arrived.
Mahina,
who was in a wild state of excitement over the
burra janwar (great animal), was also of this
Opinion, and as there was no longer any reason
for silence, he chatted to me about many strange
and curious things until the grey dawn appeared.
When we got down from our perch, we found the
track of the wounded rhino clearly marked by
great splashes of blood, and for a couple of miles
the spoor could thus be easily followed. At
length, however, it got fainter and fainter, and
finally ceased altogether, so that we had to abandon
the search; the ground round about was rocky,
and there was no possibility of telling which
way our quarry had gone. I was exceedingly
sorry for this, as I did not like to leave him
wounded; but there was no help for it, so we
struck out for home and arrived at Tsavo in the
afternoon very tired, hungry and disappointed.
Rhinos are extraordinary animals, and not
in any way to be depended upon. One day
they will sheer off on meeting a human being
and make no attempt to attack; the next day, for
no apparent reason, they may execute a most
determined charge. I was told for a fact by an
official who had been long in the country that on
one occasion while a gang of twenty-one slaves,
chained neck to neck as was the custom, was
being smuggled down to the coast and was
proceeding in Indian file along a narrow path, a
rhinoceros suddenly charged out at right angles
to them, impaled the centre man on its horns
and broke the necks of the remainder of the party
by the suddenness of his rush.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 127 of 247
Words from 34919 to 35232
of 68125
